Governor Cuomo's Environmental Protection Fund, the first in the state's
history, provides a perpetual source of funds for the preservation of open
spaces across the state, recycling programs, closure of landfills, water
pollution control projects, municipal parks and historic preservation,
biodiversity and other environmental programs. Through the Governor's efforts,
278,000 acres of open space have been acquired or protected through
easements.
New York was the first state in the nation to develop a statewide energy plan
that considers environmental effects. Our procurement and conservation efforts
have produced more national energy innovation awards for New York than any
other state and the Shoreham settlement set a unique precedent in the safe use
of nuclear energy.
Since Governor Cuomo passed the first controls of their kind in the country
in 1984, acid rain causing emissions have dropped 33%.
Governor Cuomo's 1986 Environmental Quality Bond Act has provided funds for
the largest investment of its kind in state history to acquire and protect
environmentally unique and sensitive land, preserve and develop historic sites
and urban parks, and clean up hundreds of hazardous waste sites. We were the
first state to establish a hazardous waste reduction plan.
In 1988, Governor Cuomo signed an unprecedented agreement with New Jersey for
both states to end ocean dumping of sewage sludge by December, 1991. Mario
Cuomo was a leader in having the eight Northeastern states adopt stronger air
control emission standards, an effort which led to the national Clean Air Act
of 1990.
The Governor has laid the groundwork for the creation of the Hudson River
Greenway, a unique chain of parks and open space linking Manhattan to the
foothills of the Adirondacks.
The State Parks Infrastructure Fund, created by Governor Cuomo in 1992, will
provide a decade of unprecedented investments worth $300 million for
maintenance and improvement projects at our parks and historic sites.
This year, the Governor committed $10 million for the acquisition of
environmentally sensitive land in Long Island's Pine Barrens building upon what
is already the nation's most effective groundwater protection program. The
Governor also signed the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan for
Long Island Sound with the EPA to improve the water quality of Long Island
Sound, developed the 25 year Plan for the Great Lakes, and established with
Vermont and the province of Quebec a Joint Committee on Environmental
Management of Lake Champlain.
The state's Revolving Fund for Water Pollution Control has provided over 2
billion dollars in low interest loans to finance more than 125 water pollution
control projects and ensure the high quality of our state's water.
Under programs created by Governor Cuomo, hundreds of polluting landfills
have been closed with state assistance while recycling programs have been
initiated or accelerated in every community in the state, including education
efforts to encourage recycling and the nation's first recycling emblem. The
"Bottle Bill", implemented by Governor Cuomo in 1983, has reduced the state's
solid waste stream by approximately 350,000 tons annually.